Glencot House

While touring the West Country, we stopped by the lovely town of Wells in Somerset. There we experienced this enchanting cornucopia of a hotel. In one truly enchanting day, we explored its myriad of rooms, miles of books, plethora of antiques- and then there are the grounds.

Built in the Jacobean style by architects Ernest George and Harold Peto in the late eighteen hundreds after the original burned down, The house has changed ownership many times as a residence, until the nineteen seventies, when it became a school. Then, shortly before the eighties, it reverted to a residence again and in its latest incarnation, it became a hotel. In 2006 Martin Miller, the founder of Miller’sAntiques Guides and Miller’s Gin, acquired the property and renovated it into a wonderful cabinet of curiosities!

The lovely gardens are home to sculpted vignettes scripted from storybook. They are crossed by the river Axe, which glides through the property enhancing the magic.

There is a constant stream of events throughout the year- including writers retreats and culinary weekends.

The rooms are quite comfortable and luxurious. Each is themed to a whim of Miller’s and features an array of antiquities to keep the eye roaming the walls, continually discovering new nooks and treasures. Our room was a exotic combination of black walls and flowered drapery. A window overlooked the green below.

A full service restaurant prepares strong English fare with grace and style. The dining rooms are well proportioned and the staff quite amicable (as they are hotel-wide).

For us Glencot House is the reason we travel and what a hotel is meant to be. To step out of the every day, to leave the known world behind- and enter into the imagination.